School Starts Sept. 5

8/03/12

Registration and Immunizations

Last-minute pre-registration for students new to the Long Beach Unified School District begins Aug. 20 for high schools, and Aug. 28 for middle and elementary schools. Most students already registered during the spring. Pre-registration of students new to the school district is done on a first-come, first-served basis at each school. Most schools still have a few openings. If classes fill up at a neighborhood school, parents will be advised of the options available for their children to attend other schools in the district.

To be eligible to enroll in kindergarten, children must be five years old by Nov. 1, according to state law. The school district has some openings in its new Transitional Kindergarten program, which provides extra support for the youngest kindergartners who will turn 5 between Nov. 2 and Dec. 2. The free classes are a response to recent state legislation bumping the Dec. 2 requirement for 5-year-olds back to Sept. 1 (over the course of four years starting in 2012-13 with full implementation by 2014-15). As part of the new legislation, once the age requirement completely changes, students whose fifth birthday is between September 2 and December 2 will be required to take one year of transitional kindergarten followed by one year of standard kindergarten. The school district is implementing Transitional Kindergarten early thanks to grant funding from the Packard Foundation. Parents interested in Transitional Kindergarten may call (562) 997-8247 or click on Transitional Kindergarten in the A-Z index at lbschools.net.

For all other registration, each school provides a registration packet with the required forms. An immunization record and proof of residency (current utility bill with name and address) are required. In kindergarten, a birth certificate is required. Schools can provide assistance in obtaining a birth certificate if it has been lost.

Low-cost immunizations are available from the Long Beach Health Department. For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call 570-4221.

Free and Reduced-price Meals

Under the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program, family size and income are used to determine eligibility. Children from families whose income is at or below certain levels are eligible. Children who receive CalFresh (formerly known as Food Stamps), California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS), Kinship Guardian Assistance Payments (KinGAP), or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) benefits are automatically eligible regardless of the income of the household in which they reside. Foster children residing with families are now considered as part of the family with which they reside. A separate application for each foster child is no longer needed.

Free and reduced-price meal applications will be mailed directly home via U.S. Mail. Only one application per household is required to participate in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs. For households that do not receive one in the mail, applications are also available in the Nutrition Services Branch office, (562) 427-7923. Applications will be available at traditional-calendar schools during registration. Completed applications may be returned to any school site during registration or to the Nutrition Services office. Applications may be submitted at any time during the school year. At the beginning of the school year, approved applications from the prior year are valid for a maximum 30 operating days or until a new application is processed.

A PIN, or a meal card with a corresponding bar-code for scanning purposes, is required for all students to be served a reimbursable meal. Students not qualifying for free or reduced-price meals must pay for their meals. A pre-payment option, using their PIN, is available to all paid students. Parents now have the opportunity to pre-pay for student meals and/or monitor their students’ cafeteria accounts online at the Payment Center with MySchoolBucks. Learn more about this and other pre-payment options by visiting the Nutrition Services web page. Click on Nutrition Services in the A-Z index at lbschools.net.

More detailed information is included in the meal information packet that will be mailed to households. At the elementary level, paid students who do not have money for their meal will be given a meal and have the meal charged to their pre-pay account. This service will be discontinued once a negative balance of $10 is reached. Notification outlining the repayment process will be sent to each student's parent or guardian.

To find out what is planned for lunch in the school cafeteria, parents may call the Lunch Line at (562) 427-7923, ext. 400 on any school day before 11:30 a.m. or after 2:30 p.m. or click on Nutrition Services in the A-Z index at lbschools.net. Parents of students with special dietary needs may contact a Child Nutrition Specialist in the Nutrition Services Branch office at (562) 427-7923.

Bus Stops and Routes

Parents who have already registered their children should receive a letter containing information about transportation.Anyone who is unsure of their child’s bus stop should contact the school where their child will be attending.

If bus service has been discontinued at a particular school, notice should have already been sent to parents from that school.

For more back-to-school information, contact your local school or the following offices: